The Contribution of Traditional Meat Goat Farming Systems to Human Wellbeing and Its Importance for the Sustainability of This Livestock Subsector

Eduardo Morales-Jerrett, Juan Manuel Mancilla-Leytón, Manuel Delgado-Pertíñez and Yolanda Mena
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Eduardo Morales-Jerrett: Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Sevilla, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Juan Manuel Mancilla-Leytón: Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Manuel Delgado-Pertíñez: Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Sevilla, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Yolanda Mena: Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Sevilla, 41013 Sevilla, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: Traditional meat goat farming systems are characterized by rearing autochthonous breeds and using natural resources through grazing, often within protected natural areas. In a context of reduction of the number of farms, due to the low income derived from the sale of kids, the role of those systems as suppliers of presently non-remunerated ecosystem services becomes more relevant. The objective of this article is to analyze the current situation of those systems, focusing on their connection with human wellbeing, and to formulate proposals that can contribute to guaranteeing their profitability and continuity. A technical-economic and environmental study of a sample of farms and an analysis of the limiting factors affecting the subsector were carried out. As a result, a set of multifactorial problems was identified, with the lack of acknowledgement and remuneration of some services—mainly environmental and cultural—provided by those systems and the low selling price of kids standing as the main threats. The consideration of meat goat farms as “producers of meat of high functional quality and providers of ecosystem services”, which should be properly quantified and remunerated, would contribute to their preservation and guarantee the provision of benefits associated with the activity.

Keywords: autochthonous goat breeds; ecosystem services; pastoralism; Natura 2000 network; profitability; carbon footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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